The present invention relates to wrenches, and more specifically, to a retractable/folding collapsible wrench, which positively holds down the nut in place when operated to rotate the nut on a screw rod.
FIG. 1 shows a ratchet wrench constructed according to the prior art. According to this structure of ratchet wrench, a retainer ring is mounted in an inside annular groove in the box end of the wrench body and adapted for stopping the nut in place, for enabling the nut to be accurately rotated with the wrench. This structure of ratchet wrench is not satisfactory in function because of the following disadvantages:
When loading the retainer ring, the user must compress the retainer ring radially inwards with the hands and then insert the radially compressed retainer ring into the inside annular groove in the box end of the wrench body. During installation of the retainer ring, the user""s hands tend to be injured by the retainer ring.
It is complicated to process the inside annular groove in the box end of the wrench body. The processing of the inside annular groove in the box end of the wrench body greatly increases the manufacturing cost of the ratchet wrench.
When using the ratchet wrench to rotate bolts and nuts, the retainer ring tends to be damaged.
The present invention has been accomplished to provide a ratchet wheel mounting arrangement for ratchet wrench, which eliminates the aforesaid drawbacks. It is one object of the present invention to provide a ratchet wheel mounting arrangement, which is easy to assemble. It is another object of the present invention to provide a ratchet wheel mounting arrangement, which is inexpensive to manufacture. It is still another object of the present invention to provide a ratchet wheel mounting arrangement, which is durable in sue. To achieve these and other objects of the present invention, the ratchet wheel mounting arrangement comprises a wrench body with a box head, and a ratchet wheel mounted in the receiving open chamber defined within the box head of the wrench body. The wrench body has a stepped annular bottom flange fitting one side of the ratchet wrench and adapted to hold down the nut to be rotated. The stepped annular bottom flange has an inner diameter smaller than the inner diameter of the ratchet wheel. When attached to the nut to be rotated, the stepped annular bottom flange holds down the nut in place, for enabling the nut to be accurately rotated with the wrench.